Actuator for fire protection systems



,May 14, 1935. H. E HEIGIS 2,001,680

v ACTUATOR FOR FIRE PROTECTION SYSTEMS v Filed Dec. 12, 1955 INVENTOR HENRY ERNEST Hams BY WW W ATTORNEY Patented May 14, 1935 PATENT OFJFlCE v 2,001,680 ACTUATOR FOR rum PROTECTION SYSTEMS Henry Ernest Heigls, West Orange, N. J., as-

signor to Walter Kidde & Company, Inc., Bloomfield, N. .L, a corporation of New York Application December 12, 1933, Serial No. 702,089

12 Claims.

This invention relates broadly toactuators for use with automatically operable fire protection equipment such, for example, as fire alarm or fire detecting and indicating systems, fire extinguishing equipment, and apparatus for effecting fire protective measures, such as fuel shut-off apparatus, circuit-breaker equipment, and the like.

More specifically, the present invention relates to a heat actuator for use with fire protection systems of the types shown and described in my copending application Serial Nos. 702,087 and 702,088, filed on even date herewith.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a heat actuator which is simple in construction, economical to manufacture, compact, and easy to replace after it has been used.

It is another object of the invention to provide a heat actuator which is especially adapted for quick and dependable operation.

It is still another object to provide a heat actuator which can be adapted for use either in fire protection systems in accordance with my copending application Serial No. 702,087, filed on even date herewith, in which the actuator is required to be of a type which will build up a desired operating pressure; or in fire protection systems in accordance with my copending application Serial No. 702,088, also filed on even date herewith, in which the actuator is required to be of a type which will normally prevent an operating fluid flow but which will permit such flow upon actuation thereof.

These, and other objects of the invention not specifically enumerated above, will be apparent as the invention is described in greater detail in connection with the accompanying drawing,

wherein:

Figure 1 is a view in longitudinal cross-section of one form of heat actuator according to this invention.

Figure 2 is a view in longitudinal cross-section of another form of heat actuator.

Figure 3 is an end view of the heat actuators of Figures 1 and 2, looking from the left-hand side of said figures and with a portion of same broken away and shown in transverse cross-section.

Referring to Figure 1, the reference numeral I represents a body member provided with a longitudinal bore including a chamber 2 and having threads 3 for connecting it to the means to be actuated or to means connected with the means to be actuated, the flange 4 serving as a place to grip the body member with a suitable tool for installing and removing the actuator unit. Ar-' ranged within and protruding from the end of the bore opposite to the chamber 2 is a. hollow member 5 closed at one end and open at the other end, of which the latter is secured to the body member in a substantially airtight manner. The hollow member 5 may be of any suitable material, so long as it. is destructible by flames or heat. The hollow member 5 may accordingly be of fusible metal, or it may be of an inflammable material such as celluloid. When the hollow member 5 is made of combustible material, it is 10 preferable to provide also a thin disc 6 of combustible material secured to the hollow member, so that if the disc 6 catches fire first, it will communicate the resultant flame to the hollow member 5.

Actuators of the type just described are particularly adapted for use in fire protection systems in accordance with my copending application Serial No. 702,088, and in such systems they operate by simply opening the longitudinal bore to the flow 20 of a fluid therethrough upon destruction of the hollow member 5.

Referring now to Figure 2, it will be seen that the construction here shown incorporates all the features of construction shown in Figure 1. -In 25 addition to this, the actuator of Figure 2 is shown with the longitudinal bore thereof, including the hollow member 5 and the chamber 2, filled with an ignitible gas forming charge divided into inner and outer charges I and 8 separated by a parti- 30 'tioning member 9 having an aperture 10. A stopper I I of any suitable material, such as a paper wad, retains the ignitible charge within the actuator unit. A fuse member [2 is shown disposed centrally of the longitudinal bore and extending from a point adjacent the closed end of the hollow-member 5, through the aperture ID, to a point adjacent the stopper l I.

For the ignitable gas forming charge it is preferable to employ a smokeless powder, e. g. a nitro-cellulose smokeless powder, which is relatively slow burning under the conditions imposed by the-construction here shown. Care must be taken that the charge employed is not of a type which burns too rapidly as a too quick burning 5 charge willnot propagate the desired operating pressure back through the apparatus to which the actuator is connected, but will cause the gases formed to be expelled from the open end of the actuator unit when the end has been opened by destruction of the hollow member 5.

It is optional to use a fuse member 12, but if no fuse is used, care must be taken to so proportion the size of'the aperture In in the partitioning member 9 that the flame will be propagated from the outer charge 8 to the inner charge 7, the

purpose of the partitioning member 9 being to" permit the building up of the necessary operating pressure by the inner charge 1.

However, when a fuse member is employed, the aperture Ill need not be so carefully proprotioned as the fuse itself serves to carry the flame from the outercharge 8 to the inner charge 7.

The fuse member l-Z may be of any suitable form. It may thus be of the well known fuse cord type, or it may be made, for example, of a smokeless powder base mixed with combustionburning of the inner charge 1 serving to build up an operating pressure which first blowsout the stopper H and then travels on to be operated thereby.

'While the present invention has been described with reference to specific embodiments thereof, it will be apparent that the invention resides in certain principles of construction and operation which may be embodied in various other forms of construction equally within the scope of the present invention, and I accordingly do not wish to be strictlylimited to my disclosure, but rather to the scope of the appended claims.

I claim: 0

1. An actuator for use in a fire protective system comprising a chambered body member adapted to be connected for use in the fire protective system, a hollow member of heat destructible material closed at one end and adapted to communicate at its other end with the chamber of the first named member and to form a substantially air-tight seal therewith, said hollow member being so disposed as to constitute an element projecting from said chambered member, and a relatively thin disc of heat destructible material secured to the closed end of said hollow member.

2. An actuator for use in a fire protective system comprising a chambered body member adapted to be connected for use in the fire protective system, a hollow member of inflammable material closed at one end and adapted to communicate at its other end with the chamber of the first named member and to form a substantially air-tight seal therewith, said hollow member being so disposed as to constitute an element projecting from said chambered member, anda relatively thin disc of inflammable material secured to the closed end of said hollow member.

3. An actuator for use in a fire protective system comprising an elongated body member provided with a central longitudinal bore, means on said body member for connecting it for use with the fireprotective system, an elongated hollow member of inflammable material closed at one end and open at the other end, means to connect the open end of the hollow member to the body member so as to communicate with the bore thereof and so as to form a substantially air-tight seal with the body member, said hollow member being so disposed as to project from said body member,

and a relatively thin disc of inflammable material secured to the closed end of the hollow member with the plane of the disc substantially perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the hollow member.

to the apparatus 4. An actuator for use in a fireprotective sysv m comprisinga chambered body member-adapted to be connected for use in the-fire protective system, a hollow member of inflammable material closed at one end and adapted to communicate at its other end with the chamber of the first named member and to form a substantially'airtight seal therewith, said hollow member being so disposed as to constitute an element projecting from said chambered member, an ignitible gas forming charge substantially filling said hollow member and said chambered body member, and easily displaceable means normally closing the end of the chambered body member opposite to the end connected with the hollow member for the purpose of normally retaining the gas forming charge within the actuator.

5. An actuator for use in a fire protective system comprising a chambered body member and adapted to be connected for use in the fire protective system, a hollow member of inflammable material blosed at one end and adapted to communicate at its other end with the chamber of the first named member and to form a substantially air-tight seal therewith, said hollow mem-{ ber being so disposed as to constitute an element projecting from said chambered member, a fuse member disposed substantially centrally oi the hollow member and the chambered body member and extending from a point adjacent the closed end of the hollow member to a point adjacent the remote end of the chambered body member, an ignitible gas forming charge surrounding said fuse member and substantially filling said hollow member and said chambered body member, and easily displaceable means normally closing the remote end of the chambered body member so as' to normally retain the gas forming charge within theactuator.

6. An actuator for use in a fire protective sys- ,tem comprising a chambered body member and adapted to be connected for use in a fire protective system, a hollow member of inflammable material closed at one end and adapted to communicate at its other end with the chamber of the first named member and to form a substantially air-tight seal therewith, said hollow mem-v ber being so disposed as to constitute an element projecting from said chambered body member, a member having a substantially centrally disposed aperture serving to partition the chambered body member into two chambers, a fuse member disposed substantially centrally of the hollow member and the chambered body member and extending from a point adjacent the closed end of the hollow member through the aperture of said partitioning member to a point adjacent the remote end of the chambered body member, an ignitible gas forming charge surrounding said fuse member and substantially filling-said hollow member and said chambered body member on both sides of said partitioning member, and easily displaceable means normally closing the remote end of the chambered body member so as to normally retain the gas forming charge within the actuator.

first named member and to form a substantially air-tight seal therewith, said hollow member being so disposed as to constitute an element pro- 'jecting from said chambered body member, a

member having a substantially centrally disposed aperture serving to partition the chambered body -member into two chambers, a. fuse member disposed substantially centrally of the hollow member and the chambered body member and extending from a point adjacent the closed end of the hollow member through the aperture of said partitioning member to a point adjacent the remote end of the chambered body member, an ignitible gas forming charge surrounding said fuse member and substantially filling said hollow member and said chambered body member on both sides of said partitioning member, easily displaceable means normally closing the remote end of the chambered body member so as to normally retain the gas forming charge within the actuator, and a relatively thin disc of inflammable material secured to the closed end of said hollow member.

8. An actuator for use in a fire protective system comprising an elongated body member provided with a central longitudinal bore, means on said body member for connecting it for use with the fire protective system, an elongated hollow member of inflammable material closed at one end and open at the other end, means to connect the open end of the hollow member to the body member so as to communicate with the bore thereof and so as to-form .a substantially airtight seal with the body member, said hollow member being so disposed so as to project from said body member, a. relatively thin member having a centrally disposed aperture arranged transversely within the bore of the body member so as to partition the body member into two chambers, a fuse member disposed centrally of the elongated hollow member and the elongated body member and extending from a point adjacent the closed end of the hollow memberflthrough the aperture of said partitioning member to a point adjacent the remote end of the elongated body member, an ignitible gas forming charge surrounding said fuse member and substantially filling said hollow member and said body member on both sides of said partitioning member, and easily displaceable means normally closing the remote end of the body member so as to normally retain the gas forming charge within the actu-' ator.

9. An actuator for use in a. fire protective system comprising an elongated body member and provided with a central longitudinal bore, means on said body'member for connecting it for use with the fire protective system, an elongated hollow member of inflammable material closed at one end and open at the other end, means to connect the open end of the hollow member to the body member so as to communicate with the bore thereof and so as to form a substantially air-tight seal with the, body member,.said hollow member being so disposed so as to project from said body member, a relatively thin member having a centrally disposed aperture arranged transversely within the bore of the body member so as to partition the body member into two chambers, a fuse member disposed centrally of the elongated hollow member and the elongated body member and extending from a point adjacent the closed end of the hollow member through the aperture of said partitioning member to a point adjacent the remote end of the elongated body member, an ignitible gas forming charge surrounding said fuse member and substantially filling said hollow member and said body member on both sides of said partitioning member, easily displaceable means normally closing the remote end of the body member so as to normally retain the gas forming charge within the actuator, anda relatively thin disc'of inflammable material secured to the closed end of the hollow member with the plane of the disc substantially perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the hollow member.

10. An actuator for use in a fire protective system comprising a chambered body member and adapted to be connected for use in the fire protective system, ahollow member of heat destructible material closed at one end and adapt-' ed to communicate at its other end with the' chamber of the first named member and to form a substantially air-tight seal therewith, said hollow member being so disposed as to' constitute an element projecting from said chambered member, an ignitible gas forming charge substantially filling said hollowmember and said chambered body member, and easily displaceable means normally closing the end of the chambered body member opposite to the end connected to the hollow member for the purpose of normally retaining the gas forming charge within the actuator.

, '11. An actuator for use in a fire protective system comprising a chambered body member and'adapted to be connected for use in the fire protective system, a hollow member closed at one end and adapted to communicate at its other end with the chamber of the first named member and to form a substantially air-tight seal therewith, said hollow member being so disposed as to constitute an element projecting from said chambered member, an ignitible gas forming charge substantially filling said hollow member and said chambered body member, and eas- HENRY ERNEST HEIGIS. 

